Spit test may diagnose mental disorders

A close-up view of saliva samples collected from children's swabs, in the lab of the Center for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Douglas A. Granger, Professor of Nursing, Public Health and Medicine, explained how the advances in biotechnology, combined with more research into the analytes and biomarkers in saliva, have greatly expanded the potential for using saliva as a diagnostic tool. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/MCT

CHICAGO (ABC NEWS) -- Your spit may be able to tell doctors about your mental state.

It's believed one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. Patients can spend years trying to find the right drug cocktail to keep their symptoms at bay.

Now a unique test could help change that.

The Genecept Assay test uses a patient's saliva to look for genetic biomarkers associated with depression. This could help doctors predict which anti-depressants are most likely to work.

"And say, yes you are an ultra-rapid metabolizer and that is why you are more likely to have significant negative side effects, not respond to such and such medication," Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Laura Leahy said.

The test can be used for patients with a range of difficult to treat psychiatric conditions, including depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders.